Cross Roads Revised
by MeB XanWill4Ever
Summary: What do Jack Bauer, Fox Mulder and Buffy Summers have in common? A new terrorist threat and a new dark prophecy with the Hellmouth of Sunnydale right in the middle of it.
1. The Long Night

**Cross Roads (Revised)**

**Prologue - The Long Night**

**Los Angeles**

"You never told me how you felt about Kim being in CTU," said the voice through his ear piece as he kept his eyes focused on the street below him.

Jack Bauer let out a sigh of impatience. His mind was already focused on the task at hand, not on other matters that were currently beyond his control. Any minute now, two vehicles were going to show up and their only lead to a missing nuclear device would be in reach. He and Tony Almeida had a team of seven CTU agents with them and the location was ripe for an ambush. Talking about his daughter on the line where others would hear was not sitting right with Bauer. In fact, it pissed him off. He made a promise to let Almeida know exactly how he felt about it when the job was done.

As he looked through the scope of his Marine Scout Sniper Rifle, he simply said, "All teams in position. They're coming."

In the night, it wasn't hard to pick out two sets of vehicles moving toward the warehouses the CTU agents were using as cover. The vehicles had their high beams on as they traveled along the deserted road that badly needed repair. The vehicles bounced along toward their destination. Looking through the scope and focusing on the first vehicle from his high vantage point, Bauer clearly saw the drivers face. The man was agitated and cursing angrily about the conditions of the road.

"Chloe..." Bauer said, watching the scene below him from the corner of the rooftop.

There was a sigh in his ear, followed by Chloe O' Brian's impatient voice. "Yeah?"

"Are we online?"

From CTU's central command, Chloe was helping the computer technicians fight the war on terrorism using technology. "I can see you, Jack," she replied, trying to keep her impatience to a bare minimum, which for her was very hard to do. "The satellite feed is on location directly above you, giving us your exact position. We can see everything. We're triangulating every frequency we can, but there are no nuclear devices in either one of those vehicles."

That wasn't what Bauer wanted to hear. "Are you sure?"

"Jack, when you point a gun at a terrorist, do I ask you if you know how to pull the trigger? I know what I'm doing."

Bauer glared at the approaching vehicles. If there wasn't a device in them, then they needed one or two of the terrorists alive for questioning. He looked into the scope and lined up his target. The vehicles were getting closer. Soon, they would be right where he wanted them to be.

The wait wasn't long. As soon as the two vehicles were beyond the point of no return, Bauer gave the signal. The signal was simple. He pulled the trigger.

The bullet covered the space between his position and his target in a heartbeat. It sailed through the windshield of the first vehicle and through the drivers forehead. Blood and brain matter sprayed out the back of his head and all control of the van was gone. It kept moving forward, but now there was no one to turn the steering wheel. The passenger was yelling, but his life abruptly ended when a second shot from Bauer's rifle took him out. The van crashed into the wall of the warehouse across the alley from his location.

The second vehicle seconds later collided right into the van. Two shots from Almeida's sniper rifle had taken out the driver and passenger in the front. With both vehicles down, the CTU agents on the ground immediately converged on them. The doors of the first vehicle wouldn't open from the inside. They had been jammed from the crash. Three men, however, piled out of the second vehicle with weapons of their own.

Most terrorists used only one method of attack. They simply came out screaming bloody murder at the top of their lungs as they opened fire. With no other choice, the CTU agents returned fire and three terrorists abruptly fell to the ground. One of them fell back against the van, sliding down to the ground as he left a trail of blood on the van. His hand gripped his weapon in a tight death grip, which caused it to continue firing until it clicked empty.

Then, there was silence.

By the time Bauer and Almeida were on the ground, they had joined the other agents who had the two crashed vehicles surrounded.

"We think there's two or three trapped in the van," one of the men told Bauer softly. "We can hear movement and -"

Suddenly, from within the van, there were two gunshots.

"No!" Bauer exclaimed. "Open it up, dammit! Get them out of there!"

The agents moved. They forced the doors opened and found two men inside. One of them had used a gun on his companion before he turned the gun on himself. The message was loud and clear. The only lead to the nuclear device died in that van.

"Son-of-a-bitch!" Bauer shouted. He took a deep breath and punched the side of the van. "We've lost it!"

Suddenly, the man who had been shot coughed.

"Get that man some help," Bauer demanded. "Now!"

The agents moved quickly. They brought the man out and laid him on the ground under the street lights so they could see what kind of damage he had taken. To their surprise, he had been shot in the shoulder. The man who had shot him had been a good shot when it came to taken his own life, but he should have made sure his companion was dead.

Bauer pushed one of the agents aside and glared down at the remaining terrorist. "Where is the device?"

The terrorist looked up at him. Then, he spit at Bauer. It was a bad play because it was hard to spit at someone from the ground when they were standing over you.

"Jack, we'll get the information," Almeida said, "but we need to take him to CTU now."

Bauer ignored him. He placed his foot on the mans wound and pressed down with all his weight. "Where's the device?" he demanded once more.

The man cried out in pain. The pressure was so intense, that he began to cry out words just in the hopes that the pain would stop.

"Kidnap...Rosenberg..._Boca del Infierno_...sunny days..." Then, he passed out.

Bauer frowned.

Almeida shook his head. "Way to go, Jack. That really told us everything we need to know about where the device is." He waved the man away, and the other agents loaded him into a unit to have him taken to CTU. "All I got out of it is that someone named Rosenberg is going to be kidnapped, but the rest...didn't make any sense. _Boca del Infierno_...sunny days? What the hell does that even mean?"

Bauer paused. "Boca del Infierno is Spanish." He was thinking of a time when he had gone undercover. "I'm not sure of the full translation...and I have no idea what the significance means other than what a nuclear device will unleash...but I believe he said, _'the mouth of hell.'_"

"Really? The mouth of hell? And sunny days?"

"Not sunny days. He may have said that...but I think he might have meant Sunnydale." Bauer paused. He straightened and turned to look at Almeida. "You wanted to know how I felt about Kim being in CTU? I don't like it at all. I don't want her to face this kind of shit

every day of her life."

Almeida was surprised by the sudden change of their conversation. "She's on the tech team, Jack. She's not a field agent. She'll be safe at CTU doing her job."

"If there's one thing I've learned about being in CTU, Tony, it's that you either come out into the field or the field comes to you." He glared at him. "Teri knew a Rosenberg and Kim as a little girl had gotten to call this Rosenberg her aunt. This Rosenberg at the time lived in a place called Sunnydale. If this is the same Rosenberg, then I may have to bring Kim in on this one...and if I have to do that, I'm not going to be happy about it one damned bit. And neither is anyone else before I'm through."

† † †

**Lone Gunmen Publications **

**Washington DC**

Fox Mulder stood in front of the thick, heavy door and pressed the buzzer repeatedly. As he did, he grinned up at the security camera mounted to the wall in the corner above the door. Although the buzzer had only one monotonous tone, Mulder then proceeded an attempt at playing the theme of Hawaii 5 - 0 on it.

_"Okay, that's enough of that," _came an irritated voice from a speaker next to the camera. _"The buzzer isn't out there for your entertainment, Jack-O! So back off." _Then, there was a brief pause. _"Oh. It's you." _

Mulder looked up at the camera. "Are you gonna open the door, Langly, or should I find something else to play? I understand you're partial to the Brady Bunch. Let me try that one."

Mulder proceeded to press out a Brady Bunch theme with the buzzer.

The door swung open and Richard Langly appeared in the doorway of the residence of the Lone Gunmen. He agitatedly slapped Mulder's hand away from the buzzer. "What, are you crazy? You of all people should know that the Brady Bunch was designed to brainwash innocent people into living the dream of the American life…by becoming zombie's so that the government could begin taking full control of their lives! You can't play that kind of stuff here, man!"

"Wow...And they call me paranoid." Mulder stepped inside as Langly closed the door, muttering about the inaccuracies of the American dream as portrayed by the Brady's.

John Fitzgerald Byers and Melvin Frohike were at a table, papers and gadgets spread out before them. "You're early, Mulder," Byers said. "We didn't expect you for at least another hour."

Mulder shrugged as he approached the table. "I got bored so I booked a flight. I leave in half an hour."

"Half an hour?" Langly exclaimed. "You really think you're going to make it in time? The airport is at least fifty miles from here. You'd have to break every traffic law to get there, but even then, you'd never make it."

"I'm not going to the airport. I kind of used my badge and reserved a ride under the impression that I was using the helicopter for FBI purposes."

"Mulder! You're a part of the establishment, man! You're becoming one of them!"

Frohike was curious. "What FBI business did you give the pilot?"

Mulder couldn't help but grin. "Well...I actually told him that I would set up a date between him and Scully."

Frohike frowned. "Langly's right. You _are_ a part of the establishment. And you should be ashamed using Scully like that."

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her."

"How is she not going to know when you have to set the pilot up on a date with her, Mulder? She's going to find out."

Mulder grinned at him. "Are you getting jealous, old man?"

"You bet, I am. Scully can do better than a pilot that works for the government. Uncle Sam wouldn't give us a curfew."

"Look, don't worry about it. I'm sure she thinks only of you. But let's get to why I'm really here."

Byers nodded knowingly. "You're looking for something to do on your vacation and you were hoping that we would point you in the right direction."

"Like you need our help," Frohike snorted. "Your conspiracy theories are crazier than ours. What are you taking a vacation for anyway? I thought you hated those."

Mulder shrugged as he leaned against the table. He began to look through a stack of Lone Gunmen papers. "I like to find answers and most of those answers can only be found while I'm on the job. But Skinner gave me two options. Take a short vacation...or take a

permanent one. I chose the first option." He paused. "Maybe I need this. Maybe I just need to step back and do something else that doesn't have to do with little green men or conspiracies. So what have you got that I can look into without getting into too much trouble?"

"Sightings of Big Blue are on the rise again at Huevelman's Lake in Georgia," Byers told him. "That would be a different pace for you."

Mulder shook his head. "Been there. Done that. In fact, that's the place where Scully's little yapper got eaten by a man-eating croc. And while we were there, we didn't see any sign of Big Blue."

Frohike shook his head. "Poor little yapper."

"You know," Langly began, turning to Mulder, "there is a medical facility that specializes in breast implants. We believe that the gelatinous goo the doctors use on their patients in the implants are some kind of alien residue, and -"

Byers shook his head. "Langly, for the last time. There is absolutely no evidence about any alien body parts being used for breast implants. They're not using any alien DNA for what you're suggesting, and women who have successfully had these implants are not turning into aliens."

"Oh, I see. You can believe in something like the alien Black Oil that gets dumped all over you so that it can enter into you and take your body over, but my theory about the alien breast implants is too preposterous? Have you ever been at a Star Trek convention and one of your favorite characters from the show starts talking about his experiences when one of those implants fall out onto the floor? Do you know how traumatic that can be? I saw it! That thing quivered on the floor like it was alive, so how can you tell me there isn't any alien DNA in those things? That's just wrong, man!"

Frohike rolled his eyes. "We were there, Langly. As I recall, you screamed like a little girl just before you passed out."

"I'm telling ya, those things are alive!"

Mulder shook his head and chuckled. "Well, Langly, I gotta tell you...I'm going to have to pass on that one. Byers...didn't you have something on a place called Sunnydale?"

Byers nodded. "Oh, yeah. The Hellmouth. The place in Sunnydale where there is strong evidence of a mystical convergence. This Hellmouth is said to be a portal to Hell itself and if it is opened, it will release the demons from within to bring the earth to destruction. It is a myth, but for a myth, there is a lot of activity centered around it. Some people claim that Sunnydale is a nest of vampires and demons." He went to a file cabinet as he talked and began to search for one of their articles on the subject. When he found what he was looking for, he handed it to Mulder. "This article has everything we found out about the place during our investigation, including something about a Slayer. I think you'll find it interesting, Mulder, but I have to tell you. Sunnydale doesn't sound like a safe place for a vacation."

"If I wanted safe," Mulder replied, "I'd go visit that medical facility with Langly."

"Now that was totally uncalled for," Langly snapped.

Mulder just grinned.

"If that isn't what you're looking for, we have a ton of places that -"

Mulder interrupted Byers with a shake of his head. "No. It's Sunnydale. I'm going to Sunnydale. You mind if I take this?" He held up the article Byers had handed him.

Byers nodded. "Take it. We have plenty of copies."

"Don't we always?" Langly complained.

Mulder nodded and headed for the door. "Thank you, gentlemen. Langly, my advice to you is to stay away from conventions. Which actor did it fall from anyway?"

Langly snorted. "I'm not telling you!"

Frohike shook his head. "He was traumatized, Mulder. He doesn't remember."

"I was not traumatized! Don't you get it? That freaking thing was still moving!"

Mulder couldn't help it. He laughed as he left the Lone Gunmen and got into his car. He drove to the FBI Building, parked in the garage and made his way up to the rooftop. He climbed into the waiting helicopter and once he was under way, he read the article. He was extremely fascinated by what he read.

He took out his cell phone and speed-dialed a number. "Scully, it's me..."

† † †

**The Sunnyside Psychiatric Institute **

**Just out side of Sunnydale**

They called it the Lunatic Fringe, but the actual name for the hospital was the Sunnyside Psychiatric Institute. For years, the doors of this mental health institution had been closed due to lack of funds and unsafe conditions. It was more than 1600 years old and had its share of history. Hundreds of thousands of the criminally insane and staff members have passed away inside the institute over the years it had been in service. It was now believed to be a hot spot for paranormal activity. The buildings and the grounds themselves were said to have so much history that those who had died there could never rest.

Nowadays, the place was used for something else. Audrey Linde and her boy friend Bob Turney were just about to find out what that something else was as they ran up to the doors. Without stopping, they pushed them open and ran into the haunted institute. The truth of the matter was they had bigger things to be afraid of than ghosts. A few moments passed since they had run into the main building...and then they came.

Four vampires - one girl and three men - slowly walked toward the entrance of the institute. The doors were wide open and inviting.

They laughed among themselves because they had just forced the two promising victims to run right into their home. They had been living there - if one wanted to call it that - almost as long as some of the ghosts had. It was their home. They knew every square inch of it. And they knew that their soon to be dinner guests were going to find themselves completely lost.

They went inside...And moments after they were all out of sight, the doors closed all by themselves.

The halls were very dark. There was no power in the building at all and Bob and Audrey avoided areas where it was completely pitch black. Bob suddenly realized the mistake they had made in thinking that they could hide themselves in this place. He doubted they would find their way out before the vampires caught them. As it was, some of the halls they had begun to take proved to be a bad choice for them. They would hear laughter or taunts coming down from them and would have to turn back. Before long, another realization dawned on them.

They were being led.

All the running they did, Bob and Audrey finally kicked open a set of double doors and found themselves entering into a large room. They moved into the center of it as if they were moths drawn to a flame and they realized where they were. The room at one time had been an auditorium of some kind. It had been used for conferences and meetings regarding the institution. Candles had been arranged throughout the room, enabling them to see that they were in the center of the stage, or lecture area. The seats looked intimidating and Audrey squinted her eyes as she looked toward the last row of seats up at the top. She thought there were people up there, but feared it was only her imagination.

She wished the rest of this nightmare was only her imagination.

Laughter to her right told her that their night was just about to get worst. She turned her head and screamed. Two of the hulking male vampires slowly strolled in. One of them was growling as it leered at them. The other one hissed through it's teeth.

A set of doors opened on the other side of the auditorium and the other two vampires entered. The girl was skipping happily toward them, humming a melody to herself. The male vampire with her simply walked toward the soon-to-be dinner entree's as if there was all the time in the world. For them, there was.

"Stay away from us!" Bob exclaimed. He had picked up an old chair and smashed it onto the floor. Then, he picked up one of the legs of the chair, intending to use it as a club. He kept Audrey behind him, but he kept looking from one side to the other.

The tall male let out a laugh. "That isn't going to happen," he said. "You and your lovely girl have been invited to put on a show with us for the residents of this fine establishment." He dramatically waved a hand toward the chairs surrounding them. "If we were to stay away from you, we would deny this wonderful audience an entertaining evening."

"What are you talking about, you freak?" Bob shouted, glancing up at the seats. "There's no one here."

"Ah, but there are. There are many _many_ people who have lived here at one time or another...and they are still here today...watching. And waiting. And hoping for one hell of a show. Now seriously, how can we turn aside and deny them that which they have been waiting for?"

Audrey swallowed. She leaned toward Bob. "Th-they're not all ghosts, Bob. I...I see people...up there." She pointed.

Bob looked...and so did the vampires.

"Who the hell are you?" the tall vampire shouted as he saw for himself that there were two people sitting in the back row.

A young girl and a young boy each sat with their feet propped up onto the seats in front of them. They had a bag in an empty seat next to them, which clearly had snacks. There was a bag of cheddar popcorn open in between them and they each had a bottle of water. The boy was taking candy from a box of Milk Duds when the vampire demanded to know who they were.

He waved at them, almost spilling the Milk Duds. "Oh, don't mind us. We're just here for the show. Please, just ignore us...Think of us as a part of the undead audience you were talking about and go on with the show."

"We heard you were really good," the girl said with a shrug. "Personally, I'm not impressed by what I see right now...but maybe you'll improve." She glanced at her friend. "What do you think, Xander?"

Xander Harris sat back and shook his head. "I can't understand how vampires who have been around for longer than we have still can't bring themselves to act before a live audience. If I was an agent, I wouldn't even hire them for a role in a Twilight flick."

Willow Rosenberg chuckled. "Yeah. I know what you mean. Boy, did that movie ever get it wrong."

The vampires looked at one another. They had momentarily forgotten about Bob and Audrey, who had begun to back away, hoping to slip around them to escape.

"Who do you think you are?" the girl vampire demanded. "I know of no human who would dare to be so bold as to treat us as insignificant!"

"Well," Xander said after he took a swallow from his water bottle, "we're friends of someone who heard that there were a bunch of vampires living in a mental institute. And these vampires like to bring their victims into the auditorium so that they can put on this appearance of acting out a show. When our friend heard about this, she decided that she really did want to make a guest appearance."

"Who is this friend?"

Xander and Willow looked at each other knowingly.

Then, Willow said, "Her name is Buffy." Then, she added, "She's the vampire slayer."

Silence filled the room until it was broken by a loud slam that caused almost everyone to jump. Xander and Willow had been expecting it, so they hadn't been startled. All eyes, however, turned toward the source of the loud bang. The doors had been slammed shut, and standing there with her left hand on her hip and a stake in her right hand was Buffy Summers. Her feet were placed slightly apart. Her eyes took in the positions of the four vampires, marking them. At any second, she was ready to do what she came to do.

Slay vampires.

The vampires exchanged worried glances.

The girl vampire glared as she took several brave steps toward Buffy. "You're not so bad. If you were, you would have already slain Spike, and we know he's bad."

"If he's so bad, then why am I still here?" Buffy asked conversationally. "And really, who's to say that I haven't slain him yet because of a promise I made?"

"What promise?" she asked, taking another step.

"What if I promised to slay all of the other vampires in Sunnydale first before I took him out? What if I said I wanted him to be the last one so he could suffer in fear while I made him wait? But none of that really matters right now, because it won't compare to the promise I'm going to make to you."

The girl vampire glared at her. "What promise is that?"

Buffy leaned forward. "You're gonna be first."

The Slayer was standing there, but suddenly she wasn't. She flipped over onto her hands and shoved upward. When she came back down onto her feet, she was behind the girl vampire. She tapped her on the shoulder.

The vampire turned to face her.

Buffy smirked at her. "I always keep my promises." Then, she shoved the stake into the girls heart and turned her into dust.

Even before the dust fell, she spun around and her foot connected with the tall vampires jaw, sending him sprawling backwards. She found herself in between the two hulking brutes. They growled and rushed forward, not even giving themselves time to plan for an attack. That was the way with brutes. She let them come, and then jumped up. They were so intent on her that they didn't see each other until they collided. They fell on the floor, growling and angry. Buffy, however, was attacking the tall guy, She staked him through the heart before he could counter and then she turned to face the brutes.

They were both on their feet again and once more, without thinking, they simply charged her. Apparently, they only seemed to have one form of attack. Charge. That was fine with Buffy. She saw the ruins of a chair on the floor beside her and picked up two broken leg pieces. Once she put away her stake, she held a broken leg piece in each hand and waited. Bracing herself, she kept the leg pieces down at her sides. The brutes continued with their charge. They really thought they were going to hurt her, but she was the Slayer and she had great strength and fortitude to face them. Just as they came upon her, she swung the wooden leg pieces up and held her ground. The brutes crashed into her...or more accurately, they impaled themselves onto the wooden leg pieces.

One of them turned to dust.

"Oh, shit," Buffy cursed. She had missed the heart of the second brute.

Now, he was not only wounded, but he was angry. He yelled out some kind of a garbled war cry and picked Buffy up over his head. Then he threw her into the seats. Buffy crashed into the seats and cried out.

"Buffy!" Willow exclaimed. "Look out!"

"Thanks, Will," Buffy said. "I got it." She mumbled something else under her breath but no one could make out what it was.

Gritting her teeth, Buffy got back on her feet. She looked down toward the staging area and couldn't believe what she saw. The brute was charging toward her again. He was literally ripping the seats apart, throwing them out of his way as he moved toward her. Buffy scowled. She pulled out her stake and decided to take this fight to the next level.

She yelled out a war cry herself and charged forward toward the brute.

Slayer and vampire collided and fought each other to the death. They entangled themselves and began rolling back toward the stage, literally falling over the seats in their epic struggle. When they finally reached the bottom, Buffy was straddling the brute. She raised her stake high and then slammed it down hard into the brute's chest. This time, she didn't miss.

By the time Xander and Willow made their way to her, she was sitting in a pile of dust.

"Well," she said as she got to her feet and dusted herself off, "that was fun."

"That was fun for us, too," Xander said as he helped Buffy up. "I mean, given a choice to watch you dust some evil dead or crack open a book on a bunch of numbers that spell MATH, it was a no brainer."

Buffy put her stake away as she looked around. "Where did that couple go?"

"I think they ran," Willow answered. "I don't know what scared them more. The vampires, or you tearing them a part." She looked at Buffy and hesitated. "Uhm, not that you're sacry, Buffy, 'cause you're not. I mean, to the vampires, you probably are...bu-but I don't really think you looked all that scary. I'm sure that nice couple probably weren't used to seeing something like that, but...you? Scary? Of course not!"

"Thanks for that, Willow...I think." Buffy headed for the doors. "Let's get out of here."

They headed for the hall way, talking about their latest adventure.

By the time they reached the exit, Xander said, "You know, I have to say that was a nice affect you added when you first entered the auditorium and faced the suckers."

Buffy glanced at him, stopping several feet away from the front doors. "What affect?"

"When you slammed the doors closed to get their attention."

"I didn't slam any doors. I just came in and, well, started fighting."

Xander and Willow exchanged looks.

"Buffy, if you didn't close the doors at the start of the fight," Willow began, "then who did?"

Buffy paused. "Well, they do say this place is haunted, but I've never seen a ghost. Have you? You can hear and see all kinds of unexplainable things and automatically think it was caused from a ghost, but it really could be just your imagination, couldn't it?"

As if in response, the double doors to the institute slowly creaked open and then a disembodied voice whispered harshly from the darkness, _"Get out!" _

Buffy, Willow and Xander decided it was best not to argue with something they couldn't see. They got out.

† † † † † † † † †


	2. 9:00 PM

**9:00 PM**

The facility of the CTU Command Center was a constant buzz of activity. Tony led a team of agents into the halls of the building and headed for the CTU Medical unit. Behind him, and surrounded by agents, the surviving terrorist of a successful ambush lay in a stretcher. He was yelling out obscenities in his own language and complaining about the abuse of American agents upon foreign visitors.

As they were getting closer to the Medical unit, Michelle Dessler approached Tony. She glanced behind them from where they had come in and then took in the prisoner on the stretcher. Tony came to a stop beside Michelle and allowed the others to continue on their way without him. They knew the priority was to get the prisoner's wound taken care of as quickly as possible and make him available for interrogation. He was almost glad that Jack hadn't come in with them. The man would have discounted the medical care and gone straight for the interrogation.

"Michelle," he began as he turned his attention on her, "has Chloe been able to come up with anything on the nuclear device?"

Michelle shook her head. "No. The device is completely off the grid. Where's Jack? I thought he was going to head up the interrogation?"

"No. Jack is taking into full account what the terrorist told us at the warehouse district and following a lead based on presumption. He's taking Kim with him."

"Kim? He's taking Kim out into the field? That's not like him, Tony." She frowned. "What did this guy tell you?"

"He seemed to indicate that a kidnapping was going to be taking place in Sunnydale…and then something about the mouth of hell. Really, Michelle, it made no sense to me, but when the name 'Rosenberg' was mentioned, that's when Jack decided to follow this weak lead." He shook his head. "I think the man was just talking to stop the pain, but…Jack feels there has to be something to it."

"Why would he think that?"

"Because he and Kim know some Rosenberg's in Sunnydale." He turned and headed for his office. "Look, just give me a heads up when the interrogation is ready. I'm going to go see what we have on this guy in our files."

Michelle returned to the Command Center and couldn't help but wonder how Kim was going to respond out on the field.

**9:05**

Jack hadn't said two words since his daughter climbed into the SUV on the passenger side and he pulled out of the parking lot. Many people would take that as a sign not to rock the boar and allow the silence to remain. It wasn't hard to feel the tension pouring out from Jack as he drove, his hard eyes on the road before them, but Kim decided that the silence was not good for her.

"Helloooooo," she said with a wave. "Aren't you at least going to say 'hi'? That would be the polite way to respond."

Jack sighed and glanced at her. "Yeah. Sorry. I guess I have a lot on my mind." He hesitated. "Hi."

"I know that was hard for you, Dad., but, really…you've got to stop being so angry all the time."

"I'm not angry."

"You're not?"

Jack shrugged. "No. I'm just pressed for time."

"Pressed for time?"

"Okay, so I guess being pressed for time tends to make me a little cranky, but there's a nuclear device out there somewhere. We don't where it is. All we do know is that there is going to be a kidnapping attempt in Sunnydale. Somehow, it's connected to the terrorists who have the device."

"So…why am I coming? You weren't exactly forthcoming when you called and told me to meet you out front."

"I didn't tell you?"

"No." She looked at her father closely. When he didn't say anything, she said, "Are you going to tell me any time soon why I'm going with you? I do recall you were very adamant about keeping me off the field until hell froze over, so what happened to change your mind?"

Jack paused. "The terrorist told us that the one who is going to be kidnapped in Sunnydale is Rosenberg."

Kim stared at him. "Aunt Sheila and Uncle Ira? Willow? Wait…Are you telling me you think one of them is going to be kidnapped?"

"I don't know, Kim. This is the only lead we have and we're following it. That's why it's called a lead. I need you in case…in case any of the Rosenberg's are in trouble."

"Dad, they have first names. Why can't you say them?"

"Kim…you and your mother have…" He stopped. Then, he tried again. "_Had_ a relationship with these people. I've never even met them. They're not even your real Aunt and Uncle. They were friends of Terri's and…and they may be in trouble. That's why you're here."

"I spent a few summers there with Mom, Dad. They may not be related by blood, but we were close. And for a while, I felt like I had a little sister."

"Yeah. Well, so we know I'm not too sociable."

"I think you're sociable. You just don't take any time off." She pointed a finger at him. "Too many bad guys to shoot."

"Let's hope there are no bad guys to shoot when we get there. Let's hope the Rosenberg's are out of harms way and this is nothing but a dead end. With any luck, maybe Tony can get something from our guest." He glanced at her. "Why don't you give them a call and let them know we're coming?"

Kim took her cell phone out of her purse. "What do I tell them?"

He shrugged. "Tell them anything."

"Thanks, Dad. I'll just tell them we're coming to make sure that they're not going to be kidnapped by terrorists."

"I'm sure you'll think of something."

**9:12**

At the Rosenberg residence in Sunnydale, the phone on the kitchen counter rang. It rang four times before the answering machine picked up.

"_Hi. You have reached Ira, Sheila and Willow Rosenberg," _said a male voice. _"We're not home or we just don't want to answer the phone. Please leave your message after the beep."_

The message ended.

Kim's voice then came through the phone and into the recorder. _"Hi, Uncle Ira, Aunt Sheila…Hi, Willow! How's my favorite sister?"_ There was a pause. _"Look, I know it's late…my father and I need to come over to see you so we're on our way and should be there in an hour. We'll explain when we get there. Hope to see you soon. 'Bye."_

The call ended. And a shadow moved across the counter and was gone.

**9:15**

LA International Airport was not the final destination for Mulder as he walked through the terminal to get his luggage. Almost six hours on a plane with a screaming child was enough to make anyone cranky. He decided that he would rather be on a plane full of snakes rather than one cranky child. He was tired and wanted to get his rental car from Enterprise so he could drive for an hour to his hotel. Somewhere in Sunnydale, there was a bed with his name on it.

He retrieved his luggage and headed for the car rental place, but on his way, he saw something in the window of a gift shop that he just had to have.

Sun Flower seeds.

**9:23**

It was an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Sunnydale that had become the home of a dangerous man, his woman and their minions. The only thing they had in common with each other was that they were vampires. The notorious William the Bloody, or Spike as he was known nowadays, walked down a corridor with a the woman of his heart on his arm.

"Come along, luv," he said to her soothingly, concerned with her sudden state of mind. She had begun to have periodic moments of outbursts that made no sense to him. "Daddy has arranged for you a nice little snack. I have them hanging from the ceiling in the basement, just waiting for you to sink your teeth into them."

Drusilla walked beside him, and she patted his arm. "That's lovely, dear. I am a little famished."

Spike frowned. He heard what she said, but her eyes were not focused. They seemed to be staring at something he couldn't see. It disturbed him greatly. "I'm glad you're famished. Soon, you won't be, luv. You're going to enjoy this. I promise." He led her down into the basement, encouraging her as he did. He continued to talk to her until they came to their destination.

Hanging from the rafters with chains shackled to their wrists were a young man and a young woman. Even as they approached, they both pleaded for their lives, but their plea's might as well have fallen onto deaf ears. The three minions who had been watching over them only leered at them, purposefully showing their sharp teeth. As for Spike, he didn't want to hear their plea's. He wanted to hear their screams. He also wanted Drusilla to enjoy them.

"What did I tell you, luv?" Spike smiled at his mistress. He waved his hand at the helpless captives and glanced at them. "Do you like what you see or - _What the bloody hell is this_?" He angrily strode toward the captives and pointed at the helpless woman. "Would one of you bleeding morons care to explain this?"

The morons exchanged glances. "Explain what?" one of them inquired innocently.

"Are you blind?" To show the minion what he was referring to, he grabbed a handful of the girl's hair and yanked her head back. There was no way now to hide the bite mark and the blood on her neck. "Which one of you ninny's had a taste?"

"Oh…" The minion looked at the other two. But none of them offered up an answer.

"These two Happy Meals were not for you," Spike snapped. "One of you bit this girl -"

"It was just a taste. She's still fresh."

"Oh, it was just a taste, was it?" Spike replied sarcastically. "She's still fresh, is she?" Suddenly he closed the distance between him and the minion and slammed him against the wall. A railroad spike was in his hand and he used it to jam it into the minion's throat. With that done, Spike picked him up and threw him hard against the wall. The minion crashed to the floor and then lay there gagging as he tried to remove the spike.

Spike glared at the other two minions. "Get out of here or get the same thing."

The two minions didn't wait for anything else to happen. They were gone as fast as they could leave. While this had been happening, Drusilla had been watching the captives hanging by their wrists. Watching them…but seeing something else.

Spike took her by the hand and led her directly up to them. "I'm sorry about that, luv," he said apologetically. "You just can't get good help these days."

The girl began to cry. The man shook his chains. "You're a monster!"

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you? You don't come into someone's home by special invitation and start insulting the man of the house. Where are your manners?"

"You…you killed that man! He bit my girlfriend. What are you people?"

"I don't care if this girl is your date or not, you git. She happens to be my girl's dinner, as do you, too, by the way. And that moron who bit your girl isn't dead. Look at him." Spike moved closer when the man didn't respond. "I said look at him!"

Filled with morbid curiosity, both the captive man and woman looked down at the minion on the floor. He was still moving. He had managed to get the spike out of his throat, but now he laid on his stomach with his hands on his throat. A gurgling sound omitted from him.

"He's not dead…or more to the point, he _isn't _alive like you two nits are," Spike told them. "In fact, that is what separates us from you. You see, we can cut you and make you bleed until your life comes to an end. But you can put a spike in our throats…and we will never die. This fool will suffer for a while because of what I did to him, but he will recover. Of course, if I had misjudged my aim and dislocated his head from his shoulders, well, that would have been another story altogether. Suffice it to say that he will make it and tomorrow, a little more uglier than he was before, he'll go after fresh meat. You two, on the other hand…" He again grabbed the girl by her hair and pulled her head back. "…will spend all night screaming and when we're done, there'll be nothing left. Isn't that right, luv?" When Drusilla didn't respond, he turned to look at her. "Dru, darling…are you alright?"

Drusilla looked at him without really seeing him. "He's coming," she said softly.

Spike frowned. "Who's coming?"

"He who walks with Death is coming, and he brings Wrath with him."

**9:30 **

Their travel time was getting shorter because Jack had added a little more speed as he drove. It was enough speed to give Kim cause for concern, but when there had been no answer at the Rosenberg residence, Jack feared the worst. He suspected they were too late. He was certain that the terrorists had gotten to the Rosenberg's first and had taken them away.

Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing that for certain until they got there. He did have something he could do.

He pulled out his cell phone and seed-dialed a number.

After two rings, a woman's cranky voice said, "What?"

"Chloe, I need you to put me through to the local police department in Sunnydale," he told her.

There was a sigh. "What am I, your phone service?"

"You can do it faster than I can. Besides, I'm driving and I don't have time to play games with Verizon right now."

"Yeah. Okay. Whatever." There was another pause. "You know, talking on your cell phone while driving is dangerous anyway. You could get into an accident."

"Chloe…"

"Okay." There was a third pause. "Okay. It's ringing. I'll patch you through. Next time, get Kim to do it. I'm still trying to find the device and I can't do that if I keep getting interrupted."

"Fine, Chloe. Thank you." He shook his head. Then, he was patched through and he heard the phone ringing. He glanced at Kim. "I'm going to have the local police drive by the Rosenberg's house. Then, I'll -"

"Sunnydale PD," came a bored voice. "Lieutenant Frank Burns. How can I help you?"

Jack said, "Lt. Burns, my name is Jack Bauer. I'm with the CTU in Los Angeles. There may be a situation occurring in your city you need to be made aware of."

"CTU?" Burns interrupted. "What the hell is that?"

"Counter Terrorist Unit. Lt. Burns, I have an urgent matter to discuss -"

"I've never heard of that. Who is this again?"

"I'm Special Agent Jack Bauer of CTU."

"Have you got a badge number or something I can use for verification?"

Jack took a deep breath. Then he quoted his badge number.

There was a pause. Burns grunted. "Okay. This looks legit if I'm reading this right. Never had much use for these damned computers, but I guess they're good for something. Now, before you go off on your request, I'm here to tell you we don't have any problems with terrorists. We have many other problems, but terrorism isn't one of them. I'd like to keep it that way and so would Chief West."

"Well, I'm sorry to break it to you, Lieutenant, but if my intel is correct, then you could have terrorists in your city. That's why I need a patrol to be sent to the Rosenberg place to check on them. Our sources tell us that someone in that family - or all three of them - are going to be kidnapped."

"By terrorists."

"Yes."

"Why would terrorists want to do that?"

"I don't know yet. Can you get somebody to drive to their place and have a look?"

"And what are they looking for?"

"Anything suspicious."

"Define suspicious."

Jack was trying hard not to lose his temper. "Could you just do it? We're on our way, but we won't be there for another twenty-five minutes or so. If you could just have them take a look and call me back, I'd appreciate it. Can you do that?"

"Sure. Why not? I'll get right on that for you, Special Agent Bauer. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No."

"Fine. Then…I'll see what I can do and call you back."

Jack closed his cell phone and put it away.

"That sounded like it didn't go well," Kim observed.

Jack sighed with frustration. "Yeah. The son-of-a-bitch sounded like I was wasting his time." He glanced at his daughter. "Sorry."

"We'll get there, dad."

"But will we get there in time?"

**9:37**

"This really blows," Xander said as he, Buffy and Willow walked down the street. "I mean, since when does a school night not blow? Wouldn't it be okay if we just skipped school tomorrow? We could go find another place to visit so we could watch you do your thing. You know, that thing you do…with the thing." He mimicked staking a vampire by bringing his fist down several times, slashing at the air.

"Xander, we can't skip school," Willow protested. "That would be wrong. And besides, I have a test in Math class, which I'm sure you do, too…since you're in my Math class. So, no, no skipping."

"Can't blame a guy for trying, can ya?"

Buffy grinned at him. "I think we can blame you because you don't know how to quit. Always trying to get out of anything that has to do with earning a grade."

Xander shrugged. "Oh, I don't mind earning a grade. It's all that other stuff that goes with it that I mind. Like studying and homework. And anything that has to do with numbers."

"Xander," Willow began, glancing at him with concern, "tell me you're ready for the test tomorrow."

Xander didn't reply.

"Did you at least look at the notes I left you?"

"You left notes?"

"Xander!"

Buffy couldn't help it. She laughed.

"This isn't funny, Buffy. Hey, you're having the same test, too. Are you ready for it?"

She held up her hands defensively. "I'll be as ready as I can for it, Will. Trust me. I don't like numbers either, because what do they have to do with vampires unless you have to keep track of how many you've dusted? Anyway, I'm not as bad as Xander. I'll be ready for it."

"What do you mean you're not as bad as me?" Xander inquired. "You don't even like to read."

"I like to read."

"The Firemen And Their Shiny Red Trucks Calendar doesn't count."

They arrived at Willow's house and said their goodnights. Willow promised to see them in the morning at school and then she stood on her front step. She watched her two best friends as they headed down the street. Then, thinking of Xander and his math problems, she opened the door and went into her house.

**9:40**

Mulder felt like he was getting his second wind back. He was in his rental car driving on the Interstate. In an hour, he hoped to be in his hotel room. As he drove, he snacked on Sunflower seeds and drank coffee. He had the window open so he could get more awake then he felt and the radio was blasting out a tune from the Beatles. He thought back to his conversation with Dana Scully on the phone before he was dropped off at the airport.

He had told Scully what he was up to, at least some of it. She was teaching a class for the FBI in Los Angeles so he didn't think it would be a problem for her to meet him in Sunnydale. She had said no and hung up on him.

His cell phone rang.

He answered. "Rusty's Morgue. You stab 'em, we slab 'em."

Scully's voice simply said, "Mulder, I hate you."

Then, she ended the call.

Mulder grinned as he put his phone away. He knew that Scully would be meeting him at his hotel, even if she didn't sound happy about it.

**9:42**

A Sunnydale police car drove along the streets but the officers inside saw nothing suspicious. They drove by the Rosenberg house twice and noticed nothing wrong. They called it in to Lieutenant Burns who told them to go about their business. He had intended to call the CTU agent with what his officers found - which was nothing - and decided against it.

"That son-of-a-bitch has wasted enough of my time," he growled as he placed his feet up on his desk and picked up his magazine. He made no move to reach for the phone.

**9:45**

The house was quiet. Willow hated walking into a quiet house. After Buffy and Xander had walked her home and left, she stood in the living room with the closed door behind her. She listened to the sounds of the house, which should have been familiar, but there was something missing. She didn't hear her Mom or her Dad. She didn't hear their voices. She didn't hear them moving around. She had been under another false assumption that her career-driven parents were going to be home when she came in.

Again, she was wrong.

It almost made her cry, but she was getting used to it. She stood there, took a few deep breaths and moved into the kitchen for something to eat. She went to the refrigerator, opened it and saw some left over spaghetti. She took it out and placed it on the counter. As she was getting a plate from the cupboard, she noticed the blinking light on the answering machine. She pressed play and continued to prepare her late supper.

A few of the calls on the machine were work related. Three for her father. Two for her mother. The last one was a surprise. It was from Kim Bauer. As Kim's voice came over the machine, Willow turned from what she was doing and listened.

She hadn't seen Kim in a long time. It had almost been two years when she went with her parents to Terri Bauer's funeral. Kim had always been the older sister to her on the summers she and Terri had visited them. Willow had tried to be there for Kim during the funeral…but she was too young. And she couldn't help. Kim had closed up.

Officially, they were not related. But they had been close…until after the funeral.

But now Kim had called and left a message. Kim and her father were on their way to her house. Willow wanted to hear the message again. She was about to press play again when a shadow fell upon her. With relief, she realized that her parents were home after all.

Smiling, she turned. "Mom! Dad! Kim is…" She stopped.

Neither her Mom nor her Dad were in the doorway of the kitchen. It was someone else.

**9:48**

Jack was on the field so Tony decided to use Jack's office until he returned. The office was directly above the Command Center and afforded a clear view of the staff hard at work. He sat at Jack's computer and pulled up every pertinent detail involving the missing nuclear device and the man responsible for taking it. He pulled up the file and studied the face of the terrorist on his screen.

Darwyn Musad.

Darwyn Musad was the charismatic leader of the terrorist cell responsible for stealing a nuclear device. He was more well-known as "The Speaker", one of his many aliases. He was a former member of the Saudi Arabian National Guard. From 1987 to 1989, he fought the Soviets during the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. He later returned to Riyadh after he was wounded, and later fought in the Gulf War, on the Kuwait's side, along the American forces. After the war, he trained Mohamed Aidid's men in Somalia during the Somali Civil War. Following this, he fought alongside the Bosnian mujahideen in Bosnia, where he met and saved his right-hand man, Rueben Julius - a cold-blooded killer - and then fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan after he met Osama bin Laden. Later he ran an Afghan training camp for Al-Qaeda. In America, he worked in a security company as a Jewish man named Yossi Amran...and that led him to eventually get his hands onto a nuclear device.

He liked to be known as "The Speaker" because he simply liked to talk. Whether it was the sound of his own voice or a play on the dramatics, he spoke to his victims before, and during their torture. He spoke to them until he executed them or had them executed. His right hand man was a mystery. There wasn't much known about Julius before he had crossed paths with Musad. He was Italian but claimed to be a direct descendant to Augustus Caesar. One fact was known…he enjoyed taking lives with his bare hands.

There was a knock on the door and then it opened before Tony responded. Michelle entered and approached the desk.

"We have an ID on the man you brought in," she told him.

Curious, Tony looked up at her. "Who is it?"

"His name is Youmud. Youmud Musad." She paused. "It's Darwyn's younger brother."

He sat up. "How soon will he be ready for interrogation?"

"It won't be long now. About twenty minutes. They're patching him up."

Tony nodded. "Great. Maybe in twenty minutes, we can get some more answers."

**9:52**

"I really hate tests," Xander said as he and Buffy stopped in front of the Harris house. "And tests kind of have a thing for me, you know? They know I'm going to fail, so eventually I do."

Buffy shook her head. "Xander, with that kind of an attitude, you're bound to fail."

"Buffy, I've had this dream…"

"Yeah, I know. You on a cloud wearing a toga, surrounded by seven gorgeous women bound to your eternal love. I've heard this one before."

Xander shook his head. "Not that dream…though that is my all time favorite." He never told her that she was one of those gorgeous women in his dreams. He had to take a deep breath before proceeding. "In this other dream, which is not so very pleasant, I am on an island that looks suspiciously like an algebra book."

Buffy rose her eyebrows. "This island is…a book?"

"Yes, and there are people on this booky island, but they're numbers and they carry swords that look like pencils. They want me to become like them, but I can't…so they tie me to a giant chalk eraser with giant rubber bands. Then, they are about to draw all aver me with their pencil-like swords…and that's when I wake up."

"And why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want you to go into math class for me and slay the teacher before it's too late!"

"Xander, I can't slay a teacher. Unless that teacher is a creature of the night, I have a strict hands-off policy against slaying living things."

Xander sighed. "Well…I had to try."

"Sorry. There's no way you're going to avoid that test tomorrow. Unless something sneaks up on either of us and stops us in our tracks, our fates are sealed."

Xander nodded. He bowed his head and turned to go into his house. "Well…I'll see you tomorrow. Willow's gonna call, so I'd better get in there or she'll think we're doing something."

Buffy nodded thoughtfully. When she realized what he had said, she frowned. "Wait! What will Willow think we're doing if you miss her call?"

Xander didn't respond. He was already inside. Sighing, Buffy determined to get an answer from him in the morning. She turned to go and walked right into…him. He didn't budge as she walked into him. Instead, he calmly watched her as she backed up a step to face him. A lot of emotions crossed her face, but she finally got a hold of them and regained her composure.

"Angel…" she said.

Angel, who bore no expression on his face, looked into her eyes. "Buffy…" Then, before she could say anything, he said, "There's a bad moon on the rise."

**9:57**

Sunnydale was a busy place. Vampires and other things that went bump in the night continued to terrorize the innocent, but some of them had gone into hiding as if they knew something was coming. On the major interstate, two vehicles were enroute to Sunnydale, one an FBI agent from Washington; the other two CTU agents from Los Angeles. Mulder drove at a normal speed which would place him at his hotel within the hour, or perhaps less. Jack, however, had increased his speed due to his agitation at the lack of cooperation from the local police. As Kim prayed for a safe journey and pressed herself into her seat, Jack pulled the SUV off the Interstate, entering into the city limits of Sunnydale.

As Buffy faced Angel and his cryptic message, Xander laid back on his bed, thinking about the math test. He turned his head once, glancing at the phone which never rang. He wondered if Willow had simply decided to go to bed, but it was not like her not to call.

Spike gave up on trying to get Drusilla to enjoy her treats. It bothered him that she kept seeing things that weren't there and she was quite adamant that something wicked was coming this way.

Tony and Michelle were heading out of the office to check on their prisoner, Youmud Musad. Tony was hoping the interrogation was ready because there was a lot they needed to know if they were going to be any help to Jack and Kim.

Then, there was Willow. Bound hand and foot and gagged. She was draped over the massive shoulders of Rueben Julius, a terrorist. He stood beside Darwyn Musad, the Speaker, as they watched the bound forms of Ira and Sheila Rosenberg on the floor in the living room of the Rosenberg Residence.

"I thank you for your hospitality," Musad said to the helpless parents of Willow. "You have been most helpful to what I seek and I assure you, you will no longer be allowed to suffer on this earth." He looked at the two men across the room. "After Julius and I are gone with the girl…kill the parents. They are of no further use to us."

With that, he turned and walked out the door. Julius followed after him, carrying Willow as if she were nothing but a feather. She groaned and struggled, but there was no way she could escape. Her eyes widened as she looked into the gagged faces of her parents one last time before she was out of the house, the door closing with a finality that scared her. As Willow was trying to process that she would never see her parents again, she was placed into a trunk. She stared up, trying to scream into her gag.

Julius' leaned down toward her. "Welcome to hell, child," he said.

Then, the trunk slammed shut, trapping her inside.

**9:59:57**

**9:59:58**

**9:59:59**

**10:00**

**† † † † † † † † †**


End file.
